The hacker squad formerly known as Hunters International just rage-quit the cybercrime game like your little cousin rage-quitting Fortnite after getting clapped in Tilted Towers.
On their dark web breakup blog (yes, that’s a thing now), the digital gremlins announced, “After careful consideration and mysterious ‘developments’ we refuse to elaborate on, we’ve decided to shut down our lil’ hacker club.” They didn’t spill any real tea, which is hacker code for: they’re either running from the feds or pulling a full-on Taylor Swift rebrand.
But wait, plot twist! These pixel pirates are now handing out free decryption keys to all their ex-victims like it’s Black Friday on the dark web.
“Hey sorry we ruined your entire company, here’s a get-out-of-ransom free card,” — basically their vibe.
Victims are being told to grab their free digital skeleton keys from the gang’s “official” website, which currently shows… absolutely nothing. Not a peep. Not even a loading gif. We love a scammy farewell.
In their two-year run, these cyber-ghouls allegedly locked up everything from cancer centers to U.S. Marshals files. (Although the Marshals were like, “ummm, fake news,” so who knows?) Ransomware gangs pulling this “we quit but maybe not really” act is actually kinda their thing. Some vanish for clout. Some vanish for coin. And some vanish like your Dogecoin gains after Elon tweets something insane.
💡But according to cybersecurity brainiac Allan Liska from Recorded Future (a.k.a. the guy who watches hackers like you watch Twitch streamers), this looks less like “we’re done” and more like “we’re changing our gamer tag.”
Liska clocked signs back in April that Hunters International may have been morphing into a new, slightly edgier, possibly more hydrated squad called World Leaks (very Anonymous meets VSCO girl). Same people, new drip. And they’ve got fresh ransomware and a whole new website—hosted who knows where. Maybe the metaverse?
Why the glow-up? Liska says it’s about avoiding the feds. Apparently, sticking to the same sketchy code for too long makes it easier for the FBI to track you down like a Netflix password sharer.
“They probably sensed law enforcement breathing down their necks and were like, ‘New phone, who dis?’” – Liska, paraphrased by us.
So are they really done? Or just hitting CTRL+ALT+REBRAND? One thing’s for sure: the cyber streets are watching, and your WiFi password better not still be “123456.”
#HackersBeWild #DigitalGhosting #CyberDrama 🕵️♂️💾🔓
💀HACKERS SAY “BYE FELICIA”?! Hunters International Ransomware Gang Shuts Down in Mysterious, Kinda Suspicious Exit 💻💣
